Monday, January 6, 2014

I
should have started with this the last time. Technically universities abroad
have two intakes: Fall and Spring with start dates from Aug-Dec and Jan-May
respectively. Also universities will have deadlines for applications. For US
universities the deadlines usually lie in the month of January or February so
it is wise to start applying the November or December of the year before. It
doesn’t matter if you haven’t completed your current course you can still apply
with your provisional scores and mark lists.

Funding
your studies abroad

As
I mentioned before applying for courses abroad is an expensive affair from the
start itself. So as you look at your university options itself, you SHOULD
consider how you plan on funding your studies abroad.

For
doing a one year masters in UK the expenses incurred by me were as follows:

Passport
fee: Rs.1500/-

University
Application fee: GBP 25/-

TOEFL
exam registration fee: USD 140/-

VISA
fee: Rs.25000/-

Accommodation
for an year: GBP 4770/- (This was for on campus accommodation, if you decide to
live outside the campus the expenses will be approximately 300 GBP per month on
an average)

University
tuition fee: GBP 15,720/-

Living
expenses excluding accommodation: GBP 300/- per month. (UK border agency
estimates are for one month in UK living expenses including accommodation for
students comes to GBP 800)

Health
insurance for students is covered by National Health Services (NHS)

Flight
tickets: Rs.70,000/-

So
the expenses come to 25 lakh Indian rupees; which was covered by scholarship
and an educational loan in my case.

For
a masters in USA (which is usually two years) the expenses may be approximated
as follows. But I have been told expenses will vary drastically from state to
state.

Passport
fee: Rs. 1500/-

University
application fee: USD 25-100/-

TOEFL
(which is preferred in US): USD 140/-

VISA
fee: USD 400/-

Accommodation
(University of Michigan): USD 400/- per month

University
tuition fee: USD 21,000/- per semester

Living
expenses excluding accommodation: USD 350/- per month

Insurance:
USD 100-120/- per month (Depends on university and state of residence)

Flight
tickets: USD Rs. 50,000-70,000 per one way trip depending on the time

So
the expenses come up to 32 lakh Indian rupees per annum.

Thank
you Avin for the details

Scholarships,
grants and bursaries

There
are a number of options available before you, for funding your financial needs
during your studies abroad. Unfortunately consultancy groups like Edwise don’t
often have any schemes to help you with this.

Ideally
you want an option that can cover your tuition fee and provide you with
adequate amount of monthly stipend to meet your accommodation and living
expenses. In that regard commonwealth scholarships are an excellent option to
completely fund your studies. However the selection process for the same is
quite tough. Also most, if not all, universities have their own scholarships
and grants for its prospective students, details of which may be found on their
websites.

Apply
for as many funding options as you can and don’t be disheartened by a few
rejections. A scholarship application, like university applications, will
usually require:

Personal
Details

Academic
and Professional profile

Skills/Hobbies

Course/University
Details (Some scholarship applications may require you to be holding an
official admission offer from one or more universities.)

Personal
Statement

Essays

Transcripts
and Certificates

Recommendations

Identify
the categories you fall into, ‘developing country’, ‘science’, ‘young women in
science’, ‘agriculture’, ‘common wealth’, ‘single child’, ‘first time studying
abroad’, ‘Indian’, ‘international student’, ‘athlete’, ‘union office bearer/
young leader’, ‘programmer’, ‘artist’, ‘writer’. All these can be used to
identify scholarships you may qualify for. Websites such as
scholarship-positions.com will keep you up to date about open calls for
applications.

Sometimes
you may not get a scholarship that can cover your whole fee, that’s OKAY, there
are a number of organisations offering grants and bursaries to meet the
remaining part of your academic expenses. Scholarships like TOEFL Scholarship
are useful in that way.

‘The
Alternate Guide for Postgraduate Funding’ is a useful resource in this area.
Usually universities have subscriptions for the guide, and it is made available
for its students. You can access it following these steps:

Visit
http://www.postgraduate-funding.com/gateway/

Go
to the green box

Enter
the Alternative Guide pin: 2717

Enter
your email address

Click
on "GO!"

For
PhDs it’s always wise to look for a fully funded project, but be aware that
many of the funding organisations will give priority to their own citizen.

Education
loans

I
took an education loan from SBT. The upper limit to the amount you can take as
educational loan is 20lakh Rs. Talk to your local branch manager for details.

The
application process explained

Once
the application has been send the Admissions Office will send it to the
relevant admissions tutor. At this stage all of your supporting documents (for
example your references) will be considered. Provided your application is
incomplete- for instance your final degree certificate or toefl scores haven’t
been submitted the university can still make conditional offers based upon the
information you have provided and subject to you submitting the appropriate
supporting documents. As the names suggests conditional offers are given when
the student haven’t yet met all the universities requirements. You may also be
contacted to send extra information or clarify what you have provided. It may
take a few weeks for the university to make a decision on your application.

Once
the decision has been made, you will be contacted possibly via email. If you
have been made an offer, an offer letter and information pack will be send to
you. If the application was done via an online application portal, which
usually is the case, you’ll also be able to see the ‘status’ of your
application there. You would be asked to accept the offer that has been made to
you, which may be done by either returning the confirmation of acceptance form
send to you, or online.

If
you receive a conditional offer, you will need to provide evidence that you
have met the conditions of your offer before you can register. As soon as
evidence that you’ve met the conditions of the offer has been received, an
unconditional offer letter will be send to you in the post. This is an
important document- which proves your admission status to the university.

Once
your application has gone through, the university will identify you, as their
own and thus will assist you in the next steps, such as arranging for
accommodation, applying for visa, on campus arrival and registration. Be aware
that the university have staff who have been handling cases like yours for
years, who will be knowledgeable and obliging.

Visa
formalities

Visa
formalities for different countries are obviously different. But in general you
will need to provide evidence of acceptance of studies as well as evidence of
funds for the purpose of obtaining Visa. I will briefly explain the visa
processes I am familiar with.

You
will require a tier 4 student visa to study in UK. The Tier 4 (General)
category is for adult students who want to come to or remain in the UK for
their post-16 education. Details of the same may be found on the website of UK
border agency (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/studying/adult-students/).

While
filling the Visa form you will have to provide details such as your
arrangements for accommodation when you arrive in the country, and itinerary
for travel. The evidence of acceptance of studies (CAS) will be provided by the
respective universities once you have obtained an unconditional offer. Any fee
already payed should be stated in the same so you don’t need to show them again
in your accounts. Funds may be shown as loan sanction letters, fixed deposits,
savings in the bank, scholarship certificate, sponsor’s letter or combinations
of these. Full tuition fees and living expenses for at least 9months at the
rate 800pounds per month need to be shown in this way. Passport size photograph for UK Visa should
measure 45mm x 35mm; be in colour, taken against a light grey or cream
background, not framed, not be digitally altered, and be of the full face,
without sunglasses, hat or head covering (unless it is worn for religious
reasons). Usually you will not be interviewed for the visa, however if you are
called for a telephone interview don’t panic, it means you haven’t been
rejected yet to say the least!, they just need clarifications.

For
Malaysia you will require to submit the required documents (Student Pass
Declaration Form, Health Declaration Form, passport-size photographs with blue
background (50mm height x 35mm wide), photocopies of your valid passport
including blank pages, A certified true copy of your final academic
certificates/transcripts in English and Proof of Payment/Bank Draft of before
arrival fees to the university instead of the embassy to apply for the visa.
The university will then send you the 'Approval for Foreign Students Studying
in Malaysia Letter'. Your student pass however will be stamped only on arrival
to Malaysia after the compulsory health checkups. So once you have received
this you should contact the embassy for your entry visa to Malaysia, which will
again require submission of required documents (Such as original passport and
copies, passport size photographs, bank statement, visa application, air
tickets and copies). Details could be found on the official portal of
Immigration department of Malaysia http://www.imi.gov.my/index.php/en/.

US
visa is one of the hardest. You will require an F1 student visa to study in US.
The evidence of confirmation for studies is called I20 for this. An interview
is compulsory in this case. Details could be found on
http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/index.html?firstTime=No .

If
you face with any problems during the visa process feel free to contact the
'international office' of your university. They will be happy to help you out
in any way possible.

There are many aspects of studying
abroad that I haven’t explored here. But if I go on writing this will be the
only topic I may ever write about! So let me just conclude by wishing the best
of luck in which ever direction you may choose for your future. If there are
any questions feel free to email me/ simply leave a comment here. I will try to
answer you to the best of my knowledge or direct you to someone who can assist
you better.